Stevens: Greenwood Hits 24 in Loss to BC Eagles
New Mexico Lobos Men’s Basketball at ESPN Puerto Rico Tip-Off
Thursday: Boston College 69, New Mexico 65; Dayton 55, Texas A&M 53; UConn 65, Charleston 57; West Virginia 91, George Mason 65
Friday: 5 p.m. (MT) — Lobos vs. George Mason
On The Air: ESPN3; 770-AM KKOB/Lobo Radio Network
GoLobos.com: Game Story, Complete Stats
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
It was almost as if the blueprint that Coach Craig Neal envisioned for senior guard Hugh Greenwood suddenly came to life Thursday in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The likeable New Mexico senior took over the game at a variety of key junctures for the Lobos leading all scorers with 24 points going 8-of-16 from the field.
There was a point in the first half where Greenwood was flying off screens and making shots that Boston College simply could not stop.
Of course, the ending for sophomore guard Cullen Neal was not part of this blueprint and with Neal on the bench for most of the second half with what appeared to be a lower leg injury, the Lobos simply did not have the firepower to rally past Boston College. The Eagles won 69-65 in the ESPN Puerto Rico Tip-Off and advance in the winners’ bracket while the Lobos fall into the other side.
“What can you say about Hugh Greenwood,” said Coach Neal. “He gave us everything he had.”
Greenwood obviously was tired at the close of the game and obviously was the target for the Boston College defense. Cullen Neal was 0-of-4 from the floor when he went down with an ankle injury.
And just having Neal’s presence – and passing – on the court took pressure off Greenwood out front. Neal might be gone for the rest of the tournament.
“I don’t know how bad it is,” Coach Neal said of the injury to his son. “But I think he’s on the shelf for the rest of the tournament. But I’m not going to make excuses (for the loss). I’m proud of my guys. They battled hard. They played hard. We had our opportunities.”
A big problem for the Lobos was that Boston College’s strength was on the perimeter. When the Lobos were pressing, or fouling, there were experienced Eagles bringing down the ball or going to the line. Boston College ended up 9-of-12 from the line – to 21-of-28 for the Lobos – but the Eagles made a lot of free shots in crunch time.
Eagle Olivier Hanlan, the leading returning scorer in the ACC, led Boston College with 20 points and Aaron Brown, a graduate student transfer, added 16 points. That duo combined to go 8-of-10 from the line.
“We never made him make the extra pass,” Neal said of Hanlan. “You have to make somebody else beat you.”
Coach Neal said if Cullen Neal can’t return to the court then walk-on Tim Jacobs probably will see some significant playing time. “Timmy Jacobs is going to get a chance and he’s very capable,” said Coach Neal. “That’s part of it (the game). You get injuries. You get into foul trouble.”
Jacobs, who played JC ball at Cochise College in Douglas, Arizona, played high school ball at Onate (N.M.) High. He scored in double figures in 26 of Cochise’s 30 games last year.
The Lobos shot 44.7 percent from the field and Boston College shot 47.3 percent. UNM lost the board battle 31-to-30. The Eagles had 16 assists to 10 for New Mexico. The Lobos were 2-of-13 (15 percent) from 3-point range with both buckets coming from Greenwood. The Lobos had 18 turnovers and BC had 16. The Boston College bench outscored UNM 22-to-11.
Greenwood was the only Lobos in double figures, but J.J. N’Ganga and Devon Williams each scored nine points. Deshawn Delaney added eight points. Greenwood, an exceptional rebounding guard, did not get a board and Neal, UNM’s leading scorer going into the tournament, had only two points on free throws.
“As a team, we can’t make some of the mistakes we made, but that’s part of being a young team,” said Coach Neal. “We had to play against some veteran guys and we didn’t make enough plays. I thought our guys did a good job under pressure, but it didn’t happen tonight. It didn’t work out.
“I told my guys that I’m disappointed because I hate to lose. I like to win. But I can’t fault their effort.”
The Lobos were down at the half 36-30, but could never pull the lead away from the Eagles. BC went up by 13 points at 47-34 with 16:43 to play. UNM cut their hole to five points at 47-42 with 14:12 to play and the Eagles again pulled away, this time a 43-55 lead. In the final 6:28, UNM never trailed by more than seven points, but could never get closer than four points.
Editor’s Note: Richard Stevens is a former award-winning Sports Columnist and Associate Sports Editor at The Albuquerque Tribune. You can reach him at rstevens50@comcast.net.